2011-12 Year in Review

Baseball

28-25 (11-13 Big Ten) // T-6th Place Big Ten // Highlights

After entering the final weekend of the regular season needing three more wins than Ohio State to reach the Big Ten Tournament, Illinois won its first two contests against Minnesota before dropping an 8-3 decision on the final day. That left the Illini, Buckeyes and Gophers in a three-way tie for sixth place in the standings and gave OSU a one-win advantage in the third tiebreaker, record against common opponents, and the final spot in the Big Ten Tournament. It marked only the second time in the last eight seasons that the Illini didn't reach the postseason.

Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb nabbed his 200th career win when the Illini topped Illinois State, 7-5, on April 17. After his seventh season at the helm, Hartleb is tied with Illinois legend Carl Lundgren on the all-time wins list with 209 career victories.

Center fielder Willie Argo left Illinois with his named splashed across the record book. His final target was the career stolen bases record, which he broke at Illinois State on March 27 with his 84th career steal before finishing his career with 98 steals. The Davenport, Iowa, native also holds Illinois' single-season steals record with 41 in 2010 and hit the second-most home runs by a freshman with 12 in 2009. He also broke Kyle Hudson's mark for Illinois' career steals in Big Ten games with his 37th swipe in Big Ten play and finished his career with 38.

Junior starting pitcher Kevin Johnson broke Brett Weber's record for innings pitched in Big Ten play in his final start of 2012 and now has pitched 153 2/3 innings in Big Ten games in his three-year career. Johnson has been Illinois' Friday starter the past two years and was the Illini's No. 2 pitcher as a freshman in 2010. He has made all 24 possible Big Ten starts in his career with five complete games and his 93 career strikeouts in conference play rank sixth in school history.

Illinois' defense was excellent for most of the season, ranking third in the Big Ten with a .972 fielding percentage and having the second-fewest errors (56). The .972 mark ranked second in school history behind 2011's .973 fielding percentage. In conference games, the Illini picked it at a .980 rate with 18 errors, both second-best in the league to Minnesota, while turning the most double plays (32). Both the fielding percentage and double plays are new school records in Big Ten play (24-game season), breaking the .977 mark from 2009 and the 27 twin killings from 2010.

Despite having a pair of new starters up the middle in shortstop Thomas Lindauer and second baseman Reid Roper, Illinois led the nation in double plays per game (13) and ranked second nationally in total double plays turned (69). First baseman Jordan Parr finished all but seven of the Illini's twin killings and led the Big Ten with 62 double plays, 10 more than Ohio State first baseman Josh Dezse's second-place total of 52. Lindauer ranked fourth with 46 and Roper was seventh (43).

Nine freshmen, redshirt-freshmen or transfers were a big part of the 2012 Illini squad. Sophomore transfer Jordan Parr led the team with a .348 average and 45 RBIs. He had a team-high 22 RBIs with two outs and recorded a hit in 46 of 53 games this season. He shared the team lead in multiple-hit games (20) and led the squad in multiple-RBI games (12). He also reached base in 23 of 24 Big Ten games.

Redshirt-freshman Reid Roper ranked third on the team with a .293 average and had 15 multiple-hit games while primarily playing second base. He also allowed only one run in 12 innings as a reliever, striking out nine while giving up six hits and a walk. Redshirt-freshman Kelly Norris-Jones started 45 of 53 games behind the plate and hit .266 after ripping the ball at a .349 clip over his last 15 games. He missed most of the final series of the year after becoming ill at Penn State.

On the mound, freshman John Kravetz broke Illinois' freshman wins record with an 8-3 mark and a 4.72 ERA in 87 2/3 innings, while freshman Anthony Milazzo performed well as a left-handed specialist, posting a 1.38 ERA in 13 innings over 12 appearances, striking out 10 and walking three.